Q&A: Piper Perabo of 'Covert Affairs' Promises Emotional Third Season

Fans of USA's sexy and fun spy drama, "Covert Affairs," can anticipate a third season packed with action and emotional drama when the show returns next week, said star Piper Perabo. Without giving away too much, Perabo foreshadowed conflicts between her character Annie and Auggie (Christopher Gorham) and Annie and Danielle (Anne Dudek).

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Perabo, 35, talked to reporters during a recent teleconference promoting season three, which kicks off Tuesday, July 10, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on USA.   

MSN TV: What's going on between Annie and Auggie in season three? 

Piper Perabo: Both Auggie and I are reassigned this season. We both go into more secretive departments, but different departments. And my office, where I go to work, is sort of in this bunker in the basement and he's working with the really high-up powers of the CIA. And so now we're physically very far apart. And also because of what's going on in our personal lives, we start, you know, seeing less and less of each other. And it causes, as the season goes on, that causes all kinds of problems because you begin to realize that having Annie and Auggie together is kind of -- they support each other in a way that ends up solving things.

Will Annie and Auggie's romantic feelings be explored?

It definitely puts a strain on the friendship when one person feels more strongly than the other person. At least, that's my personal experience. So the problem is I mean you know it's sort of -- it's Auggie -- the fact that Auggie's blind in some ways mirrors his relationship with Annie. And it's fun to play the scenes with Chris Gorham because you can sort of be in love with him.

And as long as you're not saying anything, Auggie doesn't know. So there's a lot of moments in the opening especially where Annie's trying to sort of keep her feelings under wraps. But it's, you know, it's as plain as an expression on her face. It's just that Auggie doesn't know. It's really fun to act it actually. And Chris Gorham's constantly laughing because he could see me sort of peripherally while he's acting. And then he's like, "Come on. Everybody would feel that smile coming at them." He'll tease me a lot about how I look at Auggie.

Does Annie at least have Danielle to turn to if not Auggie?

Well, I cannot tell you exactly what happens with Danielle this season. But there is a big thing that happens in Danielle's life. And it sort of puts a strain on her relationship with Annie. Anne Dudek who plays Danielle, you know, she went on the road with us and traveled at the end of season two and got involved in Annie's mission.

So now she's really waist deep into the spy world with Annie. She knows how dangerous it is. She knows what's going on. And so it makes Danielle worry even more now that she realizes the great risks that Annie is under. So when Danielle's life gets complicated, it puts a lot of strain on the sisters.

Why do you think "Covert Affairs" is such a good fit for you as an actress?

It was luck initially. I wasn't looking for a television show. But I'm always sort of looking for a strong female lead. And so when the show came up, what I really liked about Annie is her  -- she's true to her moral code even if it's not the rules of the game.

And I thought that'll be a fun conflict to play. And then I feel like, the writers room and the creators, Matt Corman and Chris Ord, we all have a similar ethos. And sort of with a similar sense of humor, we get excited about the same things. So I feel like our imaginary world --my imaginary world and the writer's imaginary world -- overlaps in a lot of ways. We like the same things. So I think somehow that makes the show kind of mesh together.

Do you prefer the dramatic scenes or the action sequences?

I enjoy them both. I mean, I'm -- I like the acting you know? That's really where my heart is. But I like how we do action on this show. It's a real Doug Liman ("Mr. & Mrs. Smith") style where we really run and gun with handheld 5D Canon cameras. And when we shoot  internationally, most of the time, we don't block off a street. You know we don't have cops to shut it down. We just go. So the whole world starts invading our set. And then we're on foot. And the camera boys are used to it. So, the action has a great acting component in the show because of the way we shoot it.

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"Covert Affairs" season three premieres Tuesday, July 10, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on USA.